ObjectMapper throws InvalidDefinitionException with JDK 9

Jackson-databind JDK9 issue

When used with JDK 9, Jackson’s ObjectMapper launches a com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException while trying to read JSON content into a class that declares constructors with arguments. It works when the same is attempted with a class that declares a constructor with no arguments.

The issue 393 shows a very similar problem. The only difference is that in such issue the problem was related to Lombok annotations whereas in the current scenario the problem happens in both Pojos and Lombok annotated classes.

At the aforementioned issue’s discussions someone suggested disabling the INFER_CREATOR_FROM_CONSTRUCTOR_PROPERTIES feature from the Mapper but that did not solve the current problem and the exception is still being thrown.

Still in that discussion, the @JsonCreator annotation was mentioned as a possible way to solve the problem. Such annotation was added on the cases with constructor arguments but the problem still persists (with or without @JsonCreator).

Test Scenarios

This repository was created as an attempt to reproduce the error.

There are four scenarios reproduced in the given repository:

Pojos:

• A Pojo class with constructor arguments (FAIL)
• A Pojo class with empty constructor (PASS)

Lombok generated constructors:

• A Lombok based class with constructor arguments (FAIL)
• A Lombok based class with empty constructor (PASS)

Given scenarios were run with and without applying the @JsonCreator annotation to the classes.

When running the tests, the following output is presented:

When @JsonCreator is applied:

ObjectMapperTest > lombok_all_args_fails FAILED
    com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException: Invalid type definition for type `lombok.PersonAllArgs`: Argument #0 has
no property name, is not Injectable: can not use as Creator [constructor for lombok.PersonAllArgs, annotations: {interface
com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator=@com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator(mode=DEFAULT)}]
     at [Source: (String)"{"name": "Joe", "age": 10}"; line: 1, column: 1]
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException.from(InvalidDefinitionException.java:62)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.reportBadTypeDefinition(DeserializationContext.java:1429)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._addExplicitPropertyCreator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:684)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._addExplicitAnyCreator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:715)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._addDeserializerConstructors(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:465)
        at
com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._constructDefaultValueInstantiator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:337)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory.findValueInstantiator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:255)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerFactory.buildBeanDeserializer(BeanDeserializerFactory.java:214)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerFactory.createBeanDeserializer(BeanDeserializerFactory.java:137)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createDeserializer2(DeserializerCache.java:411)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createDeserializer(DeserializerCache.java:349)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createAndCache2(DeserializerCache.java:264)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createAndCacheValueDeserializer(DeserializerCache.java:244)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache.findValueDeserializer(DeserializerCache.java:142)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.findRootValueDeserializer(DeserializationContext.java:477)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._findRootDeserializer(ObjectMapper.java:4178)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._readMapAndClose(ObjectMapper.java:3997)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.readValue(ObjectMapper.java:2992)
        at ObjectMapperTest.lombok_all_args_fails(ObjectMapperTest.java:46)

ObjectMapperTest > pojo_all_args_fails FAILED
    com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException: Invalid type definition for type `pojo.PersonAllArgs`: Argument #0 has no
property name, is not Injectable: can not use as Creator [constructor for pojo.PersonAllArgs, annotations: {interface
com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator=@com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator(mode=DEFAULT)}]
     at [Source: (String)"{"name": "Joe", "age": 10}"; line: 1, column: 1]
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException.from(InvalidDefinitionException.java:62)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.reportBadTypeDefinition(DeserializationContext.java:1429)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._addExplicitPropertyCreator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:684)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._addExplicitAnyCreator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:715)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._addDeserializerConstructors(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:465)
        at
com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory._constructDefaultValueInstantiator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:337)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BasicDeserializerFactory.findValueInstantiator(BasicDeserializerFactory.java:255)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerFactory.buildBeanDeserializer(BeanDeserializerFactory.java:214)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerFactory.createBeanDeserializer(BeanDeserializerFactory.java:137)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createDeserializer2(DeserializerCache.java:411)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createDeserializer(DeserializerCache.java:349)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createAndCache2(DeserializerCache.java:264)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache._createAndCacheValueDeserializer(DeserializerCache.java:244)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DeserializerCache.findValueDeserializer(DeserializerCache.java:142)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.findRootValueDeserializer(DeserializationContext.java:477)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._findRootDeserializer(ObjectMapper.java:4178)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._readMapAndClose(ObjectMapper.java:3997)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.readValue(ObjectMapper.java:2992)
        at ObjectMapperTest.pojo_all_args_fails(ObjectMapperTest.java:55)

When @JsonCreator is absent:

ObjectMapperTest > lombok_all_args_fails FAILED
    com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException: Cannot construct instance of `lombok.PersonAllArgs` (no Creators, like
default construct, exist): cannot deserialize from Object value (no delegate- or property-based Creator)
     at [Source: (String)"{"name": "Joe", "age": 10}"; line: 1, column: 2]
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException.from(InvalidDefinitionException.java:67)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.reportBadDefinition(DeserializationContext.java:1451)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.handleMissingInstantiator(DeserializationContext.java:1027)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerBase.deserializeFromObjectUsingNonDefault(BeanDeserializerBase.java:1290)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializer.deserializeFromObject(BeanDeserializer.java:326)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializer.deserialize(BeanDeserializer.java:159)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._readMapAndClose(ObjectMapper.java:4001)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.readValue(ObjectMapper.java:2992)
        at ObjectMapperTest.lombok_all_args_fails(ObjectMapperTest.java:46)

ObjectMapperTest > pojo_all_args_fails FAILED
    com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException: Cannot construct instance of `pojo.PersonAllArgs` (no Creators, like
default construct, exist): cannot deserialize from Object value (no delegate- or property-based Creator)
     at [Source: (String)"{"name": "Joe", "age": 10}"; line: 1, column: 2]
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidDefinitionException.from(InvalidDefinitionException.java:67)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.reportBadDefinition(DeserializationContext.java:1451)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext.handleMissingInstantiator(DeserializationContext.java:1027)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerBase.deserializeFromObjectUsingNonDefault(BeanDeserializerBase.java:1290)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializer.deserializeFromObject(BeanDeserializer.java:326)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializer.deserialize(BeanDeserializer.java:159)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._readMapAndClose(ObjectMapper.java:4001)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.readValue(ObjectMapper.java:2992)
        at ObjectMapperTest.pojo_all_args_fails(ObjectMapperTest.java:55)

Reproducing

There are two ways to reproduce the error in the aforementioned repository:

Without Docker:

./gradlew test --info

With Docker:

Using OpenJDK 9.0.1 image

./reproduce-with-docker.sh

Information

The problem was produced under the following circumstances:

Jackson versions tested:

• 2.7.4
• 2.9.1
• 2.9.4

Operating System:

Linux Ubuntu 17.10
Kernel 4.13.0-32-generic

JDK Version:

$ java -version

java version "9.0.4"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 9.0.4+11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 9.0.4+11, mixed mode)

Gradle version:

------------------------------------------------------------
Gradle 4.2.1
------------------------------------------------------------

Build time:   2017-10-02 15:36:21 UTC
Revision:     a88ebd6be7840c2e59ae4782eb0f27fbe3405ddf

Groovy:       2.4.12
Ant:          Apache Ant(TM) version 1.9.6 compiled on June 29 2015
JVM:          9.0.4 (Oracle Corporation 9.0.4+11)
OS:           Linux 4.13.0-32-generic amd64

Sorry if this is the wrong place or if this issue was already reported. Would you have any advice on that?

Thanks in advance!

[tup916]

It seems to be a problem in java 11 as well.

[cowtowncoder]

Since core jackson-databind does not automatically find parameter names – jackson-module-parameter-names (from jackson-modules-java8) is needed – then one of following is needed:

1. Use of @JsonCreator to indicate constructor to use, along with @JsonProperty – or, @ConstructorProperties
2. Move/re-create this issue for jackson-modules-java8, along with reproduction (possibly one that was linked to earlier – but if possible, just inline minimal repro here)

As to jackson-databind, I think a better exception would make sense, if possible, to try to indicate problem better. But that may be challenging too, depending on where all information is available (wrt. potential candidates)